The
Australian speedway racing fraternity is
in shock at the sudden and tragic
passing of four-time Australian Speedcar
(Midget) Champion Michael Figliomeni at
the Perth Motorplex in last Saturday
night (Nov. 25).
Figliomeni, known to his fans as ‘The
Magic Man’ suffered a fatal heart attack
whilst in the pit area at the Motorplex,
after earlier winning a couple of heat
race’s during in the night, in a new
self designed and built FIGhter Midget
chassis.
Many here in New Zealand were lucky
enough to witness Figliomeni’s obvious
engineering and racing talents when he
raced at Western Springs during the late
nineties, where he excelled and went on
to win the prestigious 30-Lap Midget
World Derby at the Springs in 1997. Many
in the Springs pit area at the time
thought that Figliomeni’s self built,
Fontana powered car was too heavy up
against the supposedly faster and
lighter US built cars raced by many of
the top Kiwi’s and Americans, but ‘Fig’
silenced them all with his historic
victory that night.
Sincere condolences on behalf of Western
Springs Speedway and New Zealand’s
Speedway fans, go out to Michael’s
family on the loss of a real gentleman,
and one of Australasia’s best ever
Speedway racers. |
